Pinoy News - Philippine News and Information

The 6.8-magnitude quake hit a narrow strait between the heavily populated island provinces of Negros and Cebu around lunchtime yesterday with more than 200 aftershocks, some nearly as strong, causing further panic throughout the day.

A total of 43 people were reported killed, but government officials warned the death toll may rise, with dozens of people said to be injured or missing and roads to mountainous areas impassable because of the landslides.

Telephone communications were also cut off, leaving information from remote regions unobtainable.

The worst-hit area appeared to be Guihulngan, a coastal city of 100,000 people in Negros, close to the quake's epicentre, where military authorities said 39 people had been confirmed killed.

Police said most of the victims had died as landslides buried homes, while others died in the earthquake itself.

"Some private homes collapsed along with our court house and parts of the public market. We got people out of the buildings but we could not evacuate the homes," police chief Senior Inspector Alvin Futalan said.

Power outages were said to be widespread in Negros, where bridges and other vital infrastructure had been damaged.

The military commander in Guihulngan, Colonel Francisco Patrimonio, said authorities had had to contend with looting as well as rescue efforts.

"Looting is now rampant in Guihulngan which forced us to commit (more troops) with the Philippine national police," he said.

Cebu, the Philippines' second biggest city with 2.3 million residents and a popular tourist destination, was 50 kilometres from the epicentre and shook violently during the tremor but no deaths were reported in the city.

The Philippines sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" - a belt around the Pacific Ocean where friction between shifting tectonic plates causes frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity.

The demolition of shanties along P. Narciso street in Barangay Corazon De Jesus in San Juan City turned violent yesterday morning and ended with at least 23 people hurt.

Residents clashed with members of the demolition team, San Juan Police, Eastern Police District, National Capital Region Police Office and the Special Weapons and Tactics team, who threw rocks, bottles and even molotov cocktails.

“We observed maximum tolerance, but they (squatters) started attacking us. We are here to maintain peace and order during the demolition, but they provoked us,” Superintendent Thomas Arcallana said.

Grace Cortes, spokesperson for Mayor Guia Gomez , said the 123 families, whose shanties were the subjects of the demolition, were part of the 400 families scheduled for relocation since Jan. 25 last year.

The families will be relocated to Southville 8B in Barangay San Isidro, Rodriguez town. Out of 123 families, seventy-three have already signed their intention to be relocated to Rodriguez,“Cortes said. She said the demolition was supposed to be peaceful since the city government consulted the affected families.

Among the injured were policemen, members of the demolition team and at least three residents.

They suffered injuries in the head, belly, face and thighs and were rushed to the San Juan Medical Center.

Former President Joseph Estrada said that this could be the work of leftist groups who infiltrated and inflamed the anger of the residents.  He said that there are professional renters for squatters that could cause this also.

“Each of the affected families was given P10,000 aside from transportation for their transfer to the relocation sites. All are free,” he added.

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary-general Renato Reyes said that this violent confrontation could have been avoided if the residents were moved within the city or in their existing community but away from the city projects.

Saturday at 8:17AM, a 5.5-magnitude earthquake was felt in some parts of the Bicol Region. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported that it originated 62 kilometers southeast of Virac, Catanduanes off the Philippine Sea. It was caused by movements along the Philippine Trench said Linda Am who is the Phivolcs science research specialist.

Saturday noon, another earthquake was recorded in Cagayan province with a 5.0 magnitude. This time the epicenter was located 38 kilometers northwest of Calayan, Cagayan.

There was no reported loss of lives or damage to property due to the earthquakes Phivolcs noted.

Earthquakes are normal occurrences in the country because of several active fault lines. Also considering that Philippines is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire where frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions encircle the basin of the Pacific Ocean.

Phivolcs records 20 weak and strong tremors on the average everyday.

MANILA, Philippines — Survivors of devastating flash floods in the Mindanao face growing threats from disease as authorities are looking into the possibility that the collapse of three mini-dams in Cagayan de Oro aggravated the flooding, officials said on Wednesday as the toll of dead and missing tops a thousand.

This developed as National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Executive Director Benito Ramos said that rescuers are now racing against time to retrieve bodies now floating in the sea.

He said that if these floating bodies would not be retrieved immediately, they will likely sink again and be eaten by fish and other marine creatures.

Ramos said concentration of the search and retrieval operations is now at Macajalar Bay, where about 90 percent of the recovered bodies in the Cagayan de Oro City were found floating.